Kristel Oelke, a senior undergraduate academic adviser in the UM Department of Mechanical Engineering, has won an ACUM Advising Award from the Advisory Council of U-M.
The ACUM Advising Awards “recognize the excellent work that advisors and other student-facing staff do every day in support of Michigan students.” These awards are student-nominated and the winners each receive a $500 prize and anonymized copies of their nominations. Kristel’s fellow awardee is Bryan Abma, an academic advisor in LSA’s Newnan Academic Advising Center.
Kristel was nominated by an undergraduate senior in Mechanical Engineering, who wrote:
“In my time as a transfer student here at U-M, I have faced both academic and financial challenges. During this, Kristel has gone above and beyond guiding me through these difficult times with sage advice and a clear roadmap toward my goals.
“Even when I faced financial difficulties, which isn’t her department, she was still able to point me to the correct person to talk to and give support through the whole process. She was even kind enough to follow up with me and check my progress, even though she has many other students to take care of, so I very much appreciate Kristel and all she has done for me.”
In response to her win, Kristel said, “I am humbled by and grateful for this recognition. Supporting the incredible students in Mechanical Engineering is a privilege, a team effort, and while not often recognized, a meaningful role. Doing what I love while working alongside wonderful colleagues in this community is the best award.”
This is the first year the award was offered, with 1,114 nominations for 529 individual staff and faculty advisers from across the Ann Arbor campus. The ACUM Advising Award recipients will be recognized at this year’s 2022 ACUM Advising Symposium, which will take place virtually May, 12-13. Registration for the symposium can be found at this link: https://sessions.studentlife.umich.edu/track/event/11044.
Congratulations, Kristel!
Much of this article was originally published in The University Record (https://record.umich.edu/articles/advising-council-of-u-m-names-inaugural-awardees/) on May 9, 2022. Additional information was collected from the ACUM FAQ page relating to the award (https://sites.google.com/umich.edu/advising-at-u-m/awards).